Target Market And Target Audience: What They Are And Why They’re So Important

Not having a target market or a target audience is like throwing a dart at a dartboard while you’re wearing a blindfold. You might hit treble 20 if you’re lucky but chances are you’ll miss.

A full view of your target, on the other hand, means you’ve got something to aim for and you can strategise accordingly.

Let’s take a look at the difference between target market and target audience, and what you need to know to get your approach right.

Target Audience And Target Market: What’s The Difference?

The 2 terms are sometimes used interchangeably but there’s a difference between them.

Your target market is a broad segment of people you think will be interested in your product or service. It typically contains the end-users of whatever it is you’re selling.

Your target audience, on the other hand, is a more defined segment of people who you want to focus specific marketing campaigns on.

The 2 groups can, and often do, overlap. Usually, your target audience is part of your target market.

A company selling running clothing might target men and women aged 25–45 who are interested in running. That’s their target market. But their target audience for a specific campaign will be narrower. It could be women aged 25–35 who use Instagram and are into long-distance ultra-running. That campaign could feature inspirational posts about famous female ultra-runners.

The company doesn’t just target women into ultra-running because that would be too narrow a market. But they do want to get that segment excited about their brand.

The kids’ toy market is another interesting example because the target audience isn’t always part of the target market.

Their target market is kids. That’s who’ll be using their products. But kids don’t have spending power, so the target audience for specific campaigns would be parents.

Knowing your target market enables you to create products and services they’ll love, and knowing your audience lets you sell those products and services to the people who’ll buy them.

Your Target Market Can Change

Target markets aren’t necessarily static.

Take McDonald’s, for example. Back in the day, people cared less about healthy foods. People in their target market were happy to work their way through cheeseburgers and fries to their heart’s content.

But attitudes changed. Baby boomers grew up and were replaced by millennials, who cared more about healthy food. To stay relevant, McDonald’s changed their menu and made their products healthier.

Target Market Influences The Whole Business

Your target market affects everything you do.

What you sell, how you package it, your sales processes, pricing, the quantity you produce, the level of customer service you offer. It’s all dictated by your target market. Your target audience, on the other hand, influences your marketing messages alone.

If core elements of your business aren’t aligned with your target market, you’ll struggle to make an impact.

Defining Your Target Market

If you’re unsure on what your target market is, ask yourself these questions and the answers will probably reveal your target market:

• • What problem does your product solve?
  • What desires does it fulfil?
  • What needs does it address?

People don’t buy products, they buy solutions to the problems they have. If you know what solution your product offers, you’ll get closer to who you need to target.

To take it one step further, define what benefits your product offers. For example, the running clothing company could say: “We provide the gear that enables people to run effortlessly and not think twice about the clothing they’re wearing when they’re pounding the trails.”

Once you’re clear on the problem you’re solving and the benefits you offer, you can start to look at defining your target market by demographics and other more specific targeting parameters.

The Importance Of A Target Audience

The broader target market is usually too general for effective marketing. It’s aiming at the dartboard, but not focusing on the treble 20.

It’s tough to create marketing messages that resonate with a generic segment. People aged 25– 45 interested in running could include 45-year-old fathers trying to lose weight after a health scare. It could also include 25-year-old women into competitive running and obsessive about beating their marathon personal best.

If you don't get further than defining a target market, you’ll struggle to capture anybody’s attention. Marketing works best when you feel like it’s made just for you. They’re the ads you pay attention to. You remember the brand that created them and you’re far more likely to engage with them.

Knowing your target audience means your campaigns can be crafted with a strategy in place. You’ll know which channels to use, the type of person to feature in the photography or video, and the benefits to highlight in the copy.

With a clear target market and target audience, you can create products your customers love and market them to specific segments you want to sell to.